In the Game of Gig Posters

For the last few years, while operating under the banner of 'Napkin Art Studios,' I took a little bit of a break from the fine art world of paintings and art galleries to designing and screen printing gig posters for bands and promoters. It was a great opportunity to indulge my love of music, design and printmaking simultaneously, and opened up more creative avenues than I could have imagined. It was also a nice way to stay creative at a time when I was feeling a little burned out and didn't feel like I had much to offer the fine art world.

Thankfully, I've felt like I've been getting some of that creative mojo back and finding a balance between fine art gallery work, printmaking and designing/printing gig posters again.

Jonathon Kimbrell Creative has taken over some of the design and printing reigns from Napkin Art Studios when it comes to the gig posters, and it's been fun picking and choosing which projects to work on. I'm fortunate to not have to depend on gig poster jobs to keep the studio lights on, so the pressure of having to hit a design home run with every job has subsided. Above is just one of the recent gig poster projects, a two color screen print for the band, Alvvays, marrying some vintage style type and graphics into an updated, collectible print. More than likely, I'll be posting more of the gig poster work on the blog in the coming months, as they start to stack up.

Aside for making gig posters, I've been having fun making works on paper. I love screen printing, and sometimes I forget that not everything I screen print has to be a gig poster. Lots of artists did some incredible prints on paper, like Ed Ruscha, Any Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, etc., that serve as a works of fine art on their own, and hopefully, I can add to that canon with my own work. Some of those new pieces can be seen under the 'Prints' tab of the website.

Anyhow, the feeling of being burned out has been subsiding for awhile, so I look forward to sharing some new art with everyone soon. The website is still taking shape, but it's just one of the many pieces of the art puzzle I'm putting back together.

At this time, I don't have any new art exhibits on the books. It'll take me some time to build the backlog back up, as well as experimenting with a different mode of work when I tackle these art exhibits. There are some other surprises up my sleeve in lieu of said exhibits, so stay tuned.